Is having a receiver in another room or closet an option? Then just use apple tv into the receiver with earc. You will need to run hdmi and speaker wires thru walls but everything will be out of site - clean look. You can then do 5.1ch easily and have a great sound with in wall speakers (center, mains, rear, in wall sub). In addition, Apple TV can stream qobuz and tidal. So you get music as well.
Small amp or all in 1 choice?
My wife and I are in the process of building a small 850 SF Florida vacation home. It will be ready early fall 2024. We are going to put 4 ceiling mounted speakers in the entertainment/living room for viewing tv and streaming music. The TV will be on the wall above a small fireplace with a 14" X 60" granite shelf above the fireplace to hold the electronics, router etc. I am going with a simple "lean and clean" look so no visible speakers in front. I want an "All in One" unit that will accept an HDMI/Arc connection for TV and also have the internal DAC for streaming background music. I was looking at the SVS wireless Pro soundbase but it only drives 2 speakers so I either need to find a similar all in one with HDMI ARC input that can power all 4 speakers or find a small outboard amp to drive the other pair of speakers. My wife is sensitive to to the shrill sounding cheap amps so that needs to be considered. I really do not want to put a lot of money into this as the house is expensive and taxing the funds. We are starting from scratch here and EVERYTHING is new, tv, appliances, furniture, etc. I looked at the Cambridge stuff but $3000 is too much money for the model that drives 4 speakers so I think I just need to find a nice outboard amp to mate with the SVS. Any suggestions as to what to look at? I've been through the stuff on Crutchfield. I guess I'd like to be around $400-$500 for the amp, of if there is a all in one that drives 4 speakers and has the HDMI input like $1200-$1500 all in? Any ideas? Also I know I could just buy a HT Receiver but wanted to keep things smaller in scale to fit the shelf @ 14 inches deep. A receiver won't fit.